I don’t have specific info about the university or the rent prices, however, I advise that you thoroughly investigate the location of your apartment before you sign the lease. Charleston is a fantastically entertaining city, but you don’t have to get very far from the city center to find some shady areas.

Downtown Charleston always has stuff to do. There are plenty of museums and an aquarium. There are all sorts of history and places to visit. Every now and then there is a festival of some sorts. Last weekend was a oyster festival. Tonight boats are being decorated with Christmas lights and are parading down the rivers. There is always something to do for every price range.

As for rent, I’m not that helpful as I rented in the North Charleston Area. A two bedroom apartment will run you about 600-800 dollars depending on quality. I’m sure there are plenty of apartments downtown close to school and ect.

We have a pretty decent bus system that runs downtown. I knew someone that bicycled to work.

If you into the music scene too there is plenty of local bands around and all sorts of goodies in that area. Let me know anything else you want to know.

I lived in West Ashley which is 3 miles from downtown – its a nice little area and there are some apartments right near the Food Lion grocery store that are nice. It would be a quick drive or bike ride downtown and probably cheaper than living right downtown.

MUSC is smack in the middle of downtown, which is nice. there is plenty to do, lots of bars, restaurants, galleries, stores, museums, touristy stuff. i just moved to texas from charleston and i miss it soooooo much. however, living downtown is expensive if you want to live in the nicer area (not sure how much – probably about $900+ a month for a one bedroom, i lived in mt. pleasant and it was still $700 a month), and there are some very not nice areas downtown too, so yes i would definitely suggest either going there first or looking at a map! pretty much anything south of calhoun is the nicer area. and i would not recommend living in north charleston, mt. pleasant or west ashely would be your best bet, and they are both only minutes from downtown. have fun!

MUSC is near a very bad area in the city so i would not suggest living in downtown… maybe on the Ashley River end of Bee St is a good place if you insist on staying downtown but it’s about $1000 a month. I am friends with one of the cops that patrols MUSC campus so there is plenty of security down there. Just know where the 911 stations are (they have blue LED lights on them all over the place). West Ashley is probably a mor economical place to live and takes maybe 10 minutes to drive to MUSC from there. Definately stay away from North Charleston, It’s jsut been ranked #7 in teh country for violent crime. Lots of bad areas there. I’d try to stay within the City Limits just because there’s better Police protecting from City of Charleston police rather than North Charleston. I know from experience on the police protection in both cities.

But there is plenty to do in Charleston. Bars, bands …. right now for teh holidays there’s something going on just about every night. Durring teh summer, there’s a Party At The Point every Friday evening with dancing on the lawn overlooking the harbour. Lots to see like Fort Sumter, The battery, Museums, Patriots Point, historical houses and gardens. Lots of culture to enjoy. I’ve lived her my entire life and still find things to do. Definately hit the visitor’s center on John St. first cuz they have maps, discount books and all kinds of info and discount for events and activities. I love it here! I know you’ll love it too!